Manufacture of barrels



(NoMode1.).

. C. B. WASHBURN.

MANUPAGTURE OF BARRELS. No. 296,091; Patented Apr. 1, 1884.

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CALEB \VASHBURN, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

MANUFACTURE OF BARRELS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,091, dated April 1884.

Application filed November 5, 1883. (No model.) I

practically tight when from expansion or other cause the staves do not fit closely. I attain this object by inserting strips of wood, suitably beveled, into dovetail grooves cut into the edges of the inner face of the staves, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- I Figure 1 is an elevation of the barrel with a portion of one side removed, showing the inner surface of the opposite side. Fig. 2 represents two of the'staves before being bent, showing the grooves c and the straight strip a. Fig. 3 is a top view of the lower half of the barrel on the line cl cl of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4: is a crosssection of two staves and the strip, showing theirrelative positions in the finished barrel.

The staves b have grooves along their inner edges, of such shape that when the staves are placed with their outer edges together the cavity formed by the grooves along their inner edges will have a greater width at its bottom thanat its surface, and the strips a have their edges so beveled that they will fit into and fill such cavity. 1

i In constructing a barrel according to my invention, strips may be used of any convenient width and thickness, so beveled or cutaway as to fit into grooves cut into the staves for their reception; but I preferusing such as are about one and one-fourth inch wide and onefourth inch thick, with the edges along one face beveled, each one-eighth of an inch. --The staves then should be so grooved along their inner edges that when placed side by side, with their edges meeting, the beveled strips will fill the dovetail groove thus formed and their faces be flush with the inner surface of the barrel. Thus in using strips a of the form and size suggested, the grooves c in each tave should be one-fourth inch deep by five-eighths (t) inch wide at the bottom and one-half (t) inch wide barrel.

at the surface, making the cavity, when the staves are joined, a dovetail groove of the exact size of the strips, so thatwhen the strips are inserted their faces will be flush with those -be pressed down into the grooves.

These strips or splines maybe I am aware that prior to my invention splines similar to those Iuse'were used in grooves out along the outside edges of the staves, in connection with pins and an adhesive substance as aids in keeping the splines in place; but I regard my invention as an improvement upon such method, for the following reasons: In using outside splines some such aids as pins and glue would be required to keep the splines in place,

for the staves hold'them by only anarrow projecting edge, which would cease to engage them so soon as aslight separation of the staves took place from expansion or other cause, when they would be held only by the hoops above and below, andwould bow out in the middle, and with such aids as pins and glue in barrels made of thin staves-such as flour-barrels and the like-a slight expansive force would be sufficient to' break the glue and release the pins, when the splines would be free to bow outward at their middle. In my barrel, on the other hand, the splines or strips need no pins or glue or other aids to hold them in place, for any expansion of the wood of the barrel or of the substance contained within would only tend to press the splines more firmly in their grooves. In the former barrel the s aves must be secured very close together, or the spline will be of no to be renewed when the head is replaced. In using my inside strips these difficulties are avoided, for such loosening of the hoops does not cause the strips to spring out of their grooves, and the head can be replaced and the hoops tightened just as with the common barrel. I save the expense and labor occasioned by using pins and an adhesive substance, and also am able to insert my splines with less difficulty than the outside splines, for the reason that the latter have only the narrow project.-

ing edge of the groove on one side to hold them until the next stave is placed, and they tend constantly to spring away, while in setting up my barrel they press against the back of the groove, and there is no trouble in keeping them in place. In barrels made of light material great care and nicety of workmanship would be necessary to insure even a fairly smooth exterior in making the barrel with the outside splines. My inside splines do not in any Way interfere with the smoothness of the exterior barrel. Again, in the former barrel the material removed for the. grooves 011 the outside and for the head inside weakens the chine at that point, which is not the case in my use of the strips. My use of such splines inside instead of outside is asaving in the cost of the barrel, the barrel produced is of smoother exterior finish, the seams are more effectually overlapped when expanded, and in flour-barrels and other barrels intended to be similarly used less labor is required in removing and replacing the heads. WVhile the former barrel was designed for kerosene-oils and burningfluids of different kinds, mine is found to be specially useful for flour and like substances, which, while requiring a tight barrel, are usually packed in such as are made of light material and are cheap.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

The combination, in. a barrel, of staves' hav-' ing their inner edges cut away to form dove- 5 tail grooves, with strips of wood beveled suitably to fit into and fill such cavities flush with the inner surface of the staves, while permitting their outer edges to meet.

CALEB B. WVASHBURN.

Vitnesses:

Hown PAIGE, DAN MoSwEEnEY. 

